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Dave Chappelle At The Hollywood Palladium

Source: Lester Cohen / Getty

Comedian Dave Chappelle is back in a place we’ve grown accustomed to seeing him.

Earlier today (July 7), the 48 year-old Washington D.C. native surprised fans with an announcement on his Instagram account. The caption simply read “Dave Chappelle “What’s In A Name?” streaming on Netflix now.”

Here’s the official synopsis: Dave Chappelle delivers a speech at his prestigious alma mater that reflects on his comedy roots, his rise to fame and why artists “should never behave.”

The special finds Chappelle at the Duke Ellington School of Arts in his hometown. The theater building was slated to be named after him. In the 40-minute acceptance speech, Chappelle discusses the irony of the school still being willing to put his name on a building despite the fact that the last time he was there, students called him out on what they perceived as him being a bigot. He speaks on his appreciation of art’s value as a commodity and the personal values that he learned while attending the school. As we’ve seen before, he also fires back at those who have critiqued him over the past few years in only a way that he can.

What’s in a Name?‘ takes the same tone as Chappelle’s compelling reaction to the unlawful killing of George Floyd, 8:46. It wasn’t necessarily meant to be a special but once Chappelle’s comedic timing, storytelling style and his expert ability to read the temperament of the room and find the right buttons to push and the order in which to push them come into the picture, it absolutely turns into one.

2017 Canadian Screen Awards - Etalk Portrait Studio

Source: George Pimentel / Getty

This marks the first Netflix special the legendary comedian has released since last year’s ‘The Closer.‘ ‘What’s in a Name?’ joins an extensive catalog of standup specials that Chappelle already has on the platform including The Age of Spin (2017), Deep In The Heart of Texas (2017), Equanimity (2017), The Bird Revelation (2017) and Sticks & Stones (2019). Earlier this year (February 26), Netflix announced that they would be teaming up with the comedian for ‘Chappelle’s Home Team,’ a series of four comedy specials from different comedians selected by Chappelle himself, who served as the executive producer. Chappelle will appear in each special to introduce the comedian. The series kicked off February 28 with ‘Earthquake: Legendary’ featuring Washington D.C. based comedian Earthquake. The second special, which does not have a release date, will highlight Donnell Rawlings.

It’s safe to say that we will continue seeing a lot of Dave Chappelle on Netflix. Let us know your thoughts on the new special in the comments!

Dave Chappelle Wants To Know ‘What’s in a Name?’ In His New Netflix Special  was originally published on globalgrind.com